General Weathers Criticism In Street

RAMADI, Iraq — A dozen Iraqi men were sitting in chairs on a residential street corner Saturday morning, vigorously discussing politics and the fate of their war-torn country.

Unexpectedly, the group had a visitor. Maj. Gen. Richard Natonski, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, was making an election-eve inspection of a nearby polling place and urging Iraqis to vote. More chairs and more Iraqi men suddenly appeared.

For 30 minutes the Iraqis used a Marine translator to give the general a vigorous, unapologetic recitation of the grievances that might lead many of them to boycott today's election.

The election will only create a Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad, the capital, that will ignore Sunni Muslim cities like Ramadi, said one man emphatically. Nobody on the ballot cares for Ramadi, said another.

Hamad Shahir Forhan, 39, a former lieutenant colonel in the Iraqi army, said that if it had not been disbanded by the Americans, the army could have kept the peace in Ramadi, which has been racked by kidnappings, killings, thievery and intimidation.

"The Iraqi army should belong to the nation and serve the people, not a single party," Natonski replied. No one mentioned that, under Saddam Hussein, the army enforced the will of Saddam's Baath Party. Natonski agreed with the Iraqi men that if the new Baghdad government ignores Ramadi, its legitimacy will be doubtful.

"The Sunni people need to be recognized by the government in Baghdad," Natonski said. "If they [Ramadi residents] do not feel a part of the government, it is a mistake."

Only once during the discussion did Natonski seem taken aback, when the Iraqis asserted that the Americans were the cause of the violence that grips their city.

"We cannot open our shops and cannot go out because the Americans are here," one man said.

The general replied that the violence is caused by insurgents, and that the Americans were there to help get rid of them.